Advocates of lifting embargo avoid human rights question

Proposals to lift the U.S. embargo of Cuba arrive like waves coming ashore, only to retreat and then come back another day.

The most recent wave of articles and proposals arrived this week. Some only provide a roadmap of how the half-century embargo might be lifted in steps. Another asks that the embargo on selling oil-drilling equipment to Cuba be lifted now in order to protect Florida’s beaches.

Graham has impeccable credentials as a politician and as one who became intimately familiar with the plight of Cubans living in the island.

Now all that is cast aside. The issue in their opinion is the danger that Florida beaches will face when Cuba again begins drilling for oil in waters north of the island in the Gulf of Mexico and less than 50 miles from the United States.

They argue that protecting Florida’s beaches is of paramount importance and thus they would like to see parts of the embargo lifted so that the United States could provide Cuba with the most advanced technology to drill for oil in this sensitive area to prevent any potential oil spills and to provide assistance in case of an oil spill.

They are convinced of Cuba’s imminent intention to explore for oil.

Their argument is solid for environmental reasons. My concern is they ignore the human rights of people living in the island. What about the thousands executed; the hundreds jailed? Not a word about that from my friend Bob Graham.